We get it, there's not enough time in the day, you're just too busy and your good intentions of posting to social media everyday always falls short.

The solution... hire a trusted person or team who will be in charge of monitoring and posting content. The social media manager will not only post your business message consistently but also build customer trust by responding to all comments and feedback. The manager or team should also monitor the businesses social pages 7 days a week, both day and night, should a customer inquire. ​

Consistent online presence Great job! You have made the decision and hired a social media manager. Let's put them to work by reorganizing the social media pages you have already started or create new ones to display a consistent business brand, one that the customers can identify with, both online and in your storefront.

Have your new manager explain what each social media platform can do for your business and decide which ones will be best for your specific needs. You should at least consider Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+ and Linkedin to start and explore others once you have established a base.

Your manager will then create a consistent image across all social media platforms, one that your customer will recognize right away.

Planning, stacking and schedulingYou now have an online presence that you are proud of. Now it's time to plan, stack and schedule content that your social media manger will post to your new pages.

They will plan by creating a monthly calendar of posts and the times they will need to send them. They should include useful content, special events, photos and videos and begin stacking and scheduling all of this new media to distribute on the planned calendar day.

Provide quality and useful contentMake sure your manager puts themselves in your customers shoes. Would it be great to see a sale? Sure, but everyday, no. Create useful and engaging content by giving them free advice. They will appreciate it and possibly use the information, share it with their friends and come back for more!

Ideas:

weekly tips

special events

post something funny (but in good taste)

highlight or recognize your customers

create “social media” only offers

ask a question people will want to answer

contests and giveaways

product reviews and overviews

“how to” videos

unique sales (pair with useful info)

Monitor responsesYour social media manager should monitor and respond to all comments and reviews, good or bad, in a timely manner. Saying "thank you for stopping by" or answering a question builds client trust and they will appreciate it. Addressing a negative comment or review quickly can save your business time and money. Always make it right and don't let it come back to haunt you. You are only as good as your last review.

AnalyticsHave your manager implement a good tracking system to provide you with useable customer data. It will provide excellent insight into browsing and shopping behavior. They will be able to make better decisions on the social media content your customers want see.

Ask for weekly, bi-weekly or monthly reports and review them, they will surprise you. Your manager will be happy to do so because it will show their progress that they are making with your online business strategy.